Congratulations! You have created and launched an awesome mobile app, and it’s high time to get the word around about it and ramp up installs. And that’s where the real work starts: marketing your incredible app.

Mobile app development spend surged in 2018, hitting records of $25.1 billion, with the figure expected to surpass $30 billion in 2019. Given that over 57 percent of companies have already gone mobile, the odds are truly stacked against your new app. So, how can you stand out in an increasingly competitive mobile app market?

It pays to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all to marketing your app. You should leverage tried-and-true app marketing best practices, understand your customer needs & acquisition, as well as think out of the box when it comes to your marketing strategy and app use.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at steps you need to take to be competitive in the market and successfully market your mobile app. We’ll cover the basic rules, best practices, and tips for app marketing strategy, and understanding your app user needs to boost customer acquisition and app use.

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What is Mobile App Marketing?

According to ComboApp’s Ultimate Guide to Mobile App Marketing, mobile app marketing is defined as “the set of strategies and branding techniques deployed to attract, engage and retain mobile app users with the primary purpose of increasing a user’s overall lifetime value.”

(1) Rethink your Mobile App Marketing Budget

Let’s be candid. You cannot be (or stay) competitive in the market if you don’t have enough dollars in your marketing kitty. If you want to have the best shot at standing out in a sea of competition, you should rethink your mobile app marketing budget. After all, most diligent app developers and companies are reportedly planning to spend no less than 31 - 50 percent of their mobile app budget on branding and marketing in 2019. And given that Apple’s App Store alone receives an average of 1000+ app requests, this makes great sense in terms of customer acquisition and retention.

Getting your app marketing budget right can make a huge difference. Remember any budget is way better than no budget at all in the app marketing space. Depending on your niche and size of target market, you can earmark around $1,000 for a modest budget; $1,000 - $5,000 for a medium budget that entails social media marketing to paid ads; or more than $5,000 for a higher, more eclectic budget.

What to budget for?

SEO marketing - help target audience find your app website on search

Social Media - Put aside some marketing dollars to boost your app presence on social media, most notably Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Video Marketing - Video format has gained more and more traction with online users. If used properly, video can build rapport and increase installs for your app.

Blog Presence - Create attention-grabbing content and post on your own blog as well as high-authority guest blogs and news sites.

Content - Great content can help build long-term relationships as well as ramp up downloads

Events Marketing - Get down to events which will get the attention of your target user community and media.

Paid Promotions - Whether paid search, promoted content or paid social media ads, don’t be afraid to pull all stops to get people talking and downloading your mobile app.

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(2) Stay on top of App Store Optimization (ASO)

I’m sure you don’t need to be reminded that app store optimization is crucial. It’s a game-changer if you want to make your app stand out on App Store, Google Play, and other popular app marketplaces. You should ensure that your mobile app is thoroughly optimized for searches on these top app stores. Start off by polishing your app pages across all stores.

With that said, think seriously about the graphic content of your page, its readability, the tags, keyword density, and anything that can help optimize your app’s search ranking. Talking of keywords, your page title should contain one or more of heavy-traffic keywords. That’s why you should start your optimization by carrying out a top-down app keyword research. Once your app page is properly optimized, you can easily catalyze and scale up your app marketing efforts to stay competitive.

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(3) Understand your Customer Needs

Understanding who your typical customers are, and what their needs are, is part of marketing 101. That’s why it comes as no big surprise that mHealth is making healthcare more customer-focused. It doesn’t matter what it’s that you’re marketing, it’s crucial to understand your customer, their likes, dislikes, where they are, and their hot touch-buttons.

There are at least two steps you can take to better understand your target audience needs and boost customer acquisition:

Include target customer insights in your app market research - Don’t simply ask your potential customers what they think about your creation; inquire about themselves as well, especially those who seem to be most excited about your mobile app.

Do competitor analysis - take a peek at who is using your rivals apps, and dig up a little about their app download & use trends, as well as customer behavior.

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(4) Go Beyond the Install

Paid app represents the biggest portion of mobile app revenue, but the actual customer spending on this category has declined from 52 percent to 36 percent in the last 5 years. That’s why it pays to think beyond the actual download as revenue transitions towards in-app purchases. To stay competitive, you should think not only the way to market your app but also what you’ll do once you have acquired the install to spruce up the customer’s lifetime value.

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(5) Think Long-Term Mobile App Marketing Strategy

Short-term marketing goals will get you short-term results, but you need to think about what will happen in the long haul. As such, you need to create a well-documented mobile app marketing strategy that’ll help your brand resonate well with your app’s target audience today, tomorrow, and several years to come.